Page 12 of How Much Wine Will Fix My Broken Heart?
We all lean into our screens. Lucy shoos someone out of her bed, but not before he flashes an arse cheek on screen. I manage to cover Cleo’s eyes before she can see much else.
‘LUCY!’ Emma shouts in disgust.
‘I saw penis,’ Meg says, cackling. ‘Seriously, we should all place bets on what we will see in Lucy’s box each week. Lucy Zoom Bingo.’
I cup my hands over Cleo’s ears.
‘I see a condom wrapper. Last week, I saw half a spliff,’ Beth says, holding her hand in the air.
‘It’s medicinal,’ Lucy says, shaking out her hair.
‘Guys, Cleo is right here…’
The sisters stop in their tracks as her cheesy grin comes into view.
‘Sorry, Gracie…’ Beth says, bending forward to study her face. Everyone waves at her, beaming. That’s the thing: for all their faults, these sisters of mine have had no problems welcoming Maya and Cleo into the fold. They’re ours, they’re family.
‘Shouldn’t you be in bed, little lady?’ asks Meg.
‘Was that your boyfriend, Aunty Lucy?’ Cleo asks.
Emma smiles knowingly.
‘He sort of is. He’s like a man friend.’
‘Is that like a grown-up version of a boyfriend?’
‘Yes,’ Lucy says, like she’s an authority on the matter.
‘Like Mummy has with Sam?’
We all freeze. This is new information to the sisters but I am suddenly worried about what Cleo may have seen. I thought I’d been super careful when Sam had been around.
‘Cleo, you must tell us about Sam immediately…’ Meg replies. Beth shuffles in her bed to make herself more comfortable.
‘The other day,’ says Cleo, ‘Sam was babysitting us and then when you said goodbye to him I saw you kiss him goodbye, on the lips.’
I sigh with relief, grateful she didn’t see more. ‘You were up?’ I ask her.
‘I went to the toilet. I was standing on the landing.’
‘Sam is not my man friend. I kiss lots of people like that.’
‘You don’t kiss the shopping delivery man like that,’ Cleo asks.
Lucy is in hysterics at this point and holds her hand up to the screen. She’s not wearing a bra, is she?
‘High five, little wonder.’
Cleo smiles and fake high fives her back. I shake my head at all of them grinning at me.
‘Bed, little one,’ I tell Cleo. ‘Wave everyone off and go to sleep.’
She blows kisses into the air that are returned as I sit back on my bed to await the interrogation.
‘Sam?’ Meg asks.
‘Sam,’ I reply.
